Confirming their expulsion from the party, BSP’s Uttarakhand president Megh Raj said, “They have been expelled on disciplinary grounds. Both of them have not attended a single meeting of the party after the Lok Sabha polls.”

While Sharma was unavailable for comments, Chauhan said, “I have not received any communication to this effect. I wrote a confidential letter to Mayawati asking her to stop erecting statues. Perhaps it was not taken in the right spirit. But I have no regrets. I had written to her saying that statues will not improve the living standard of any Dalit or provide them with education and health care. The money used to construct memorials could be spent on providing employment and removing poverty.” He added that he will contest the Vikas Nagar Assembly bypoll.

Chauhan had quit his membership from the state Assembly and that of the BJP to contest the Lok Sabha election from Tehri on a BSP ticket. He lost to Vijay Bahuguna of the Congress.

Sharma had joined the BSP a few weeks before Chauhan and had managed the latter’s poll campaign. He was with the SP, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and the Congress in the past.